Suggestions for fish?

[bartnl]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the site and the hobby of fish keeping. I bought a 29g tank, set it up and a little later put some fish in. So far I have a 2" pictus catfish(which I love), a 1.5" red tail shark, and two 1.5" clown loaches. Been having fun and I can't keep my eyes off of my tank. I'm so glad my friend got me into this hobby. Anyways, they are all bottom dwellers so I want some mid to top fish. Not sure what to get though. I've had these current fish in here for a week so I'm going to wait another 1-2 weeks before I add anything but I don't know of any nice fish yet. Every fish I buy, I get a lot of info on before so I am prepared. I am buying a 50g tank over the summer because I know how big the loaches and catfish can get but I still want some more fish so I can have fish everywhere and not just at the bottom. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thank You!

 

[unwritten law]

good thing you a preparing to buy a bigger tank because eventually even the RTS might need to be in a bigger tank. If you haven't cycled your tank you should not get any new fish. Do you know what cycling is? Do you have any test kits to test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc...? If not read some of the stickies on the site about cycling and buy some test kits (get the more expensive dropper test not strips).

 

[bartnl]

yes i know what a cycle is..i was going to do a fishless one but my friend(had fish for a very long time) said that a fish cycle is just the same and i really wanted to have some fish. And no i don't have a test kit also because of my friend. i read so much about cycling and testing and a lot of people always says that the test kits are very important but my close friend said no? i'm going to buy some then. thank you

 

[Lostlilkidd]

you should def let the tank cycle first before adding any additional fish to make sure it can handle the bioload.
And def pick up the test kit.

 

[bartnl]

i just got the test kit..gonna read a little more about it so i now how to use it thank you! and i thought it takes about 2-3 weeks for a tank to cycle?

 

[Monoxide]

http://www.myfishtank.net/articles/fishless-cycle/

Fishless Cycling - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

 

[Lotus]

Well, bartnl already has fish, so a fishless cycle is already not an option.

This is a nice article/instructions for cycling with fish: Aquamaniacs :: View article - Cycling Safely - by Clint Tisher

It will take six to eight weeks to cycle with fish.

 

[bartnl]

ok so i just did all the tests and I'm a little confused...my ph says 7.6 but high is 7.4 so is it 7.5? The ammonia is 1.0ppm the nitrate is 10ppm and nitrite is 0ppm. Should I do a water change? I also bought some aquarium salt should i put that in? Thank you for your help!

 

[homebunnyj]

The ammonia being 1.0, yes -- do about a 50% water change, being sure to use dechlorinator and match the temp of the tank water. Never mind about the pH, do NOT try to adjust it. Don't add any salt; you can just put that away for later, in case your fish get ich.

It's great that you're working so hard to research and make the right decisions for the benefit of your fish. Your friend could have given you some gravel from his tank or a used filter pad to jumpstart your tank's cycling process, had he known to do so. Sounds as though you'll be able to return the favor of his getting you into fishkeeping by sharing the knowledge you gain with him pretty soon.

 

[bartnl]

ok...so I did the 50% water change and then like 5 hours after did the ammonia test again it is 1.0......wow i really hope i'm not doing something wrong...but at least my fish are a lot more active now! Thank you so much for your help btw...i really appreciate it...

 

[unwritten law]

you want to keep it under .5, you might need to do another w/c

 

[homebunnyj]

Couple questions for ya......

First of all, did you read the linked article on cycling with fish? If not, drop everything now and read it ....................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................


Okay, now.... How do you care for your filter? Do you change out the filter pads? Do you scrub them under the tap?

If so, stop!

The bacteria that break down ammonia into less toxic substances colonize your filter, as well as your substrate. If your filter pad gets clogged, chug it up and down a few times in a bucket of tank water that you've removed during the water change. The only time you need to actually put in a new one is when the old one is so clogged that you can't get the gunk out, thus impeding water flow. This is one situation where clean is not necessarily a good thing. Also, the chlorine in the tap water kills off the bacteria.

Also, do you vacuum your gravel when you do the water changes?

You should, because rotting food and fish waste break down, producing ammonia. The less of that stuff in your substrate, the better. Just no need to get all crazy about it, stirring everything up every time, simply use the water change siphon to suck stuff out of the gravel until you have sucked out as much water as you were intending to remove.

How much and how often are you feeding?

It is helpful if you feed lightly during the cycling process, as your fish will produce less waste that way. If your fish have sunk-in bellies, you are not feeding them enough. If there is still food in the tank after about two minutes, you are likely feeding too much. You can feed them once a day. Once your tank's nitrogen cycle is established, you can tweak your feeding routine for the best growth of your fish.


One more thing......

See if you can get a cup or two of gravel from your friend's tank. Put it in an old stocking or a mesh bag of some sort and either set it under your filter's outlet tube, or actually place it in your filter if it will fit without impeding water flow. This will seed your tank with needed bacteria. Leave it for a couple or three weeks, then you can give it back to your friend if he likes. (Actually, in one of my roomier HOB filters I like to keep a mesh bag of gravel just for jumpstarting a new tank.)

If you can't get some gravel, a used filter pad is really good too. If your friend can't help you out, maybe your LFS would be willing to.

(Considering that you do show some nitrates in your tank, but no nitrites, I think maybe your tank was partially cycled and you inadvertently did something to kill off the ammonia-eating bacteria.... unless that reading was actually for nitrites, not nitrates, which I doubt, given the reading. )

Yes, do another w/c, vacuuming the gravel. Test your water daily until the ammonia -- and nitrite -- is not reading 1.0 or above. Then you could probably test every other day until those two tests read 0.

 

[bartnl]

so I did another w/c and did another test the ammonia went down to .25 the nitrate is at 5 for some reason and nitrite is at 0. well at least the ammonia is down...i tested my tap water today..found out why my nitrate has been up..my tap water reads a 5ppm..so thats prob why it has been up..i read the cycling page and it is very helpful...expecting the nitrite to go up tomorrow or maybe the next day..we'll see...oh and i got my friends gravel inside the mesh bag to so we'll see how everything goes...hopefully it'll all be ok!

 

[MissFishy]

You really need to focus on your ammonia and nitrite levels for the time being. Both should be kept below 1.0 ppm, otherwise you can kill your fish. I also have some cycling instructions and some more info in the link below.

 

[bartnl]

ya i know...my ammonia is at .5 and nitrite is still at 0...thank you for the link too! I am doing water changes almost every day

 

[Joeyb1731]

I also heard...and dont quote me cuz im new too, if you do water changes during a cycle you are most likely cleaning all the good bacteria thats growing out and when you add the new water you are actually restarting the cycle. I had the same issue with the jumping ammonia levels and I thought I was helping with 25% water changes 3 days in a row, turns out I was not allowing my tank to fully cycle and restarting the cycle before the good bacteria could colonize. If i were you I would go get a bottle of tetra safe start or bio-spira (the kind they keep in the fridge****) and put it in, get the bottle thats bigger then your tank size and dont do water changes everyday, since I did that my ammonia has been steady under .25, not 0 but the safe start keeps it at a healthier level untill your tank has the right time to cycle and then it will go down to 0...Just a thought from another newbie

 

[homebunnyj]

Actually, joey, that isn't strictly true. You have to do the w/c's to safeguard your fish's health whenever it approaches the 1.0 mark; and the bacteria colonize mainly in the gravel and filter and on ornaments and the tank glass as well. Changing the water has only a slight effect on the cycle's timeframe. It's true, though, that you shouldn't do unneeded w/c's during the establishment of the nitrogen cycle.

He put gravel from an established tank into his tank, so that takes the place of the tetra safe start stuff or whatever the biospira replacement is called.

Sounds like it has worked well for your tank, though, and sharing our experiences is what makes mft such a great place.